WCA May 2017

From the Americas

In Mr Pai’s view, its adoption by the FCC, together with the agency’s reclassification of broadband as a regulated common carrier, deviated from Washington’s long-standing “light-touch” regulatory approach toward the Internet. To Mr Pai, the FCC’s net neutrality rules “injected tremendous uncertainty” into the broadband market. Asserting that “uncertainty is the enemy of growth,” he suggested that broadband investment is down since the FCC passed the regulations. But, as noted by Mr Gross, some net neutrality advocates disagree. According to the digital rights group Free Press , broadband investment was up by nearly nine per cent over the two years since passage of the rules, compared to the prior two-year period. Capital investment from broadband providers stood at $76 billion in 2015, down slightly from 2014, trade group USTelecom said. But that number was the second-highest of any year since 2001, according to the group.  Jacob Kastrenakes of the Verge provided some background on Mr Pai, a member of President Donald Trump’s Republican party but an appointee of former president Barack Obama. An FCC commissioner since 2012, when he was confirmed by the Senate, Mr Pai does not share the progressive views of Mr Trump’s predecessor and is by no means someone Mr Obama, a Democrat, would have chosen to lead the commission. The new commissioner owes his position to Mr Obama’s observance of a tradition that permits the minority (then Republican) party to pick two commissioners, since the majority (Democrats, at the time) may legally hold no more than three seats on the five-person commission. (“Trump’s New FCC Chief Is Ajit Pai, and He Wants To Destroy Net Neutrality,” 23 rd January) From a leading Canadian public policy think tank, a timely warning on expecting too much from huge infrastructure outlays Published on 2 nd March by the Fraser Institute, “Myths of Infrastructure Spending in Canada” would make sobering reading for US President Donald Trump. Mr Trump is banking heavily on an infrastructure spending plan of his own to energise the American economy, create tens of thousands of new jobs, and rebuild roads, airports and other big facilities across the US. As Ottawa and several provincial governments plan to collectively spend hundreds of billions of dollars over the coming decade on infrastructure, the Fraser Institute authors – director of fiscal studies Charles Lammam and policy analyst Hugh MacIntyre – strongly advise against outsize expectations in these matters. Abridged and lightly edited, these excerpts from their report dispel five misconceptions so divorced from fact as to qualify as “myths”: Government spending

 Nation-state cyberattacks will move from espionage to war. Experian expects cyberattacks to continue against the United States, and – absent any international agreement governing engagements in cyberspace – attacks will increase and could escalate existing tensions among countries;  Criminals will focus on payment-based attacks, since many small firms lag in their transition to EMV chip readers and PIN. Experian recognises there are legitimate barriers to adopting this technology. However, it says, the risk of not adopting it is high, as attackers have demonstrated the ability to exploit older technology;  International data breaches will cause big headaches for international companies. New regulations in Canada, Australia and the European Union require companies to notify customers whose data has been stolen. To prevent breaches, Experian advises all organisations to train employees on how to spot phishing attacks; keep all security software fully patched; and have contingency plans for responding to a ransomware attack;  As deployment of new mobile apps exposes new vulnerabilities, health care will become the most targeted sector for cybercrime. Preventing data breaches is critically important here, as health care consumers typically react strongly to instances of compromised personal information. Telecom The new head of the USA Federal Communications Commission wants to reinstitute a ‘light-touch’ regulatory approach In a rare display of unity, the two major political parties in the USA have both pushed for an overhaul of the Telecommunications Act, which underpins telecom policy and defines the powers of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Dating back to 1934, and updated in 1996 to add provisions specific to the Internet and cable TV service, the act has long been seen as ripe for another congressional do-over. Last summer’s court decision affirming the FCC’s net neutrality rules prompted another wave of calls for action, on grounds that Congress must more clearly define the FCC’s role in regulating the Internet. On 28 th February, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the new head of the FCC made plain his own stand in the matter. As reported by Grant Gross, who monitors USA government telecom policy for the IDG News Service, chairman Ajit Pai presented himself as very much a free-market adherent firmly opposed to government regulation. (“New FCC Chairman: Net Neutrality Rules Were ‘a Mistake,’” 1 st March) Net neutrality is broadly defined as requiring Internet service providers to enable access to content and applications without favouring or blocking particular products or websites.

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Wire & Cable ASIA – May/June 2017

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